Originally Posted By TheParsec I think this is interesting. When I was a kid I always loved getting Happy Meals for the toys. "Happy Meals are soon going to come with a sad surprise for children in the US. Lawmakers in California have voted to ban toys from being served up with McDonald's burgers and fries. Officials claim the free goodies, often promoting a new film or popular cartoon characters, lure children into eating foods with high sugar, sodium and fat. The measure is the first of its kind to be proposed to battle an obesity epidemic sweeping California and the rest of America. While supporters insist the ban will force restaurants to offer more nutritious food to children, critics complained on Wednesday night that it was just another case of the government getting too involved in parenting decisions. Ken Yeager, county supervisor in Santa Clara, the hi-tech Silicon Valley district south of San Francisco that agreed to the clampdown on Tuesday, claimed it "breaks the link between unhealthy food and prizes". "This ordinance prevents restaurants from preying on children's love of toys to peddle high-calorie, high-fat, high-sodium kids meals," he added. McDonald's helped build its demand for its "Happy Meals" by including free toys, and the giveaways are now common in many fast food chains. But while McDonald's has introduced healthier meal options like allowing drinks like Coca Cola to be swapped for milk or juice to help battle childhood obesity, the lawmakers say it isn't enough. Childhood obesity in the US has tripled in the last 30 years. Two-thirds of Americans - about 190 million people - are now said to be medically overweight. California was the first state to ban fizzy drinks from schools and other councils across the country are now considering instituting the toy ban. Under the new bill, restaurants will only be allowed to offer free gifts with meals if they meet basic nutritional criteria. It would not allow the inclusion of a toy in any children's meal with more than 485 calories, 120 calories for a drink, 200 calories for a single food item, 600mg of salt or high amounts of sugar or fat. These guidelines would caused all McDonald's happy meals, even those with apple sticks instead of fries, to be served without a toy. Fast food bosses are being given 90 days to come up with a better solution before the proposals go into effect. Voting against the measure was supervisor Donald Gage, who claimed parents should be responsible for their children. "If you can't control a three-year-old child for a toy, God save you when they get to be teenagers," he said. "Ultimately, parents decide what their children eat and whether a meal includes a toy or not - that is the role of a parent," added Jot Condie president of the California Restaurant Association. "The county government does not need to serve as the parent of the parents." - Daily Mail"
Originally Posted By trekkeruss As someone who has collected Happy Meal toys in the past, I think it's a stupid proposal.
Originally Posted By mousermerf Where's Santa Clara? Do I live there!??! God I should have bothered to learn some geography while I lived here! Oh wait, I live in the OC. The county is implied in the name.
Originally Posted By Mr X Not sure about the country limits, but the city of Santa Clara is near San Jose iirc.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan Santa Clara County = Silicon Valley. This is a wildly unpopular decision, and I strongly doubt it would stand up to a court challenge. >>It would not allow the inclusion of a toy in any children's meal with more than 485 calories, 120 calories for a drink, 200 calories for a single food item, 600mg of salt or high amounts of sugar or fat.<< Does this mean that it would be unlawful to give kids crayons at Denny's while a family waits for their meal?
Originally Posted By Mr X I would say there's a slight difference (if Denny's were offering crayons ONLY with particular meal choices, it would be the same). But yeah. Kinda lame imo.
Originally Posted By WilliamK99 "If you can't control a three-year-old child for a toy, God save you when they get to be teenagers," he said.<< Best quote ever....
Originally Posted By plpeters70 The problem with McDonald's and other fast food chains is not so much that they market unhealthy food to kids, but that those unhealthy foods are so much cheaper than a healthy alternative. Something is definitely out of whack when it costs less to feed your kid a hamburger and fries than it does a salad. I think the government here is going after the wrong company. They need to work on making healthy choices more affordable for working-class people so that parents can actually make some good decisions about what to feed their kids. But to do that, they would need to go after the farmers and meat-producers, and the food industry lobby is very, very strong in this country.
Originally Posted By WilliamK99 It's best that the government tell people how to raise their children.<< I hope that is sarcasm....
Originally Posted By BlueDevilSF And DAR is going out for a Happy Meal today for lunch...just because.
Originally Posted By BlueDevilSF Funmeals from Burger Chef were much better. Hell, Burger Chef had much better food than McDonalds, period.
Originally Posted By Daannzzz This covers the unincorporated part of Santa Clara county, which affects about 12 fast food restaurants. I think this one is stupid.
Originally Posted By Mr X ***Well the Democrats at least know what's best for our children*** Hilarious. Now DAR wants to blame "the Democrats" for this. It was a 3-2 vote (and I couldn't find party affiliation anywhere, if such a thing even exists for a county lawmaking panel). So in the BEST CASE scenario in DARWorld, there were a whole whopping THREE Democrats who voted for this. How powerful and out of control can they be!! <--cue scary music Oh NO, DAR!, the DEMOCRATS are coming to take away your rights!
